June 15, 2026 – Grand Mesa – Wandering Retirees

Today we had a beautiful little ride to Grand Mesa in the Grand Mesa National Forest. The US Forest Service does a wonderful job preserving the park, and providing information and guidance for so many folks who come to visit.

Grand Mesa is a large Mesa in Colorado and the tallest “flat top” Mesa in the world. It covers about 500 square miles east of Grand Junction, CO, and rises about 6,000 feet above the Colorado River and Gunnison River valleys. That puts it at 11,000 feet at the top.

The Mesa is capped by a thick layer of volcanic rock (basalt) that is much harder than the sedimentary rock in the area. This hard rock, that flowed from volcanos 10 million years ago, kept the surrounding rivers from eroding the Mesa like the soft rock around it. Amazing what water can do with a little time.

Anyway, it’s gorgeous! There is a lot of water sequestered on the Mesa in the form of 300 small lakes and reservoirs, and a lot of streams. The contrast with the surrounding valleys is stark. With the drought of the last several years, so much of Colorado has a dun, parched look except where fields are irrigated. And the temperature on the Mesa was in the low 60’s versus mid-90’s below. It was a beautiful day for a ride. 140 miles worth.

Of course we met some folks. Myron Hostettler, from close by in Cedaredge, was at the Mesa Visitor’s Center when we pulled in for a bit of relief. He took time to point us to a lovely trail that led to a vantage point that overlooks the valleys below. Myron was a tall, powerful, kindly man who impresses with quiet dignity.

He had his five sons, all about 10 years and up, with their bicycles in the bed of his pickup. There wasn’t a cell phone or gadget in sight. Every one was polite and waited with some patience for their dad to stop talking. He finally did, as all dads finally do. Seems they were excited to ride downhill off the Mesa and had dad to cover their back door from traffic. And maybe to help out if there’s a mishap. That being said, the boys and Myron quickly mounted up and set off down the mountain. Wow.

The trail we stopped at is called Land O’ Lakes and is a short, paved path that leads to the south rim of the mountain. In the near view about 1,000 feet below, there were five small lakes looking refreshing if half full. Farther off the Gunnison River Valley was spread out. Farther yet we could see the San Juan Mountains, part of the Rockies, which extend from Northern New Mexico into the so called mineral belt of Colorado. The towns of Silverton and Ouray, and Telluride were established there during the silver rush in the mid-1800’s. We rode the Million Dollar Highway from Durango north through the San Juan’s last week. They looked as impressive at a distance as they did close at hand.

While at the scenic overlook, we met an Hispanic family from Iowa. Jorge and Imelda were toting their two very young kids along the trail. They were all excited to be on vacation in a not-flat place, and meeting two strangers wearing funny coats in summertime may have been a sight. When we parted, Connie and I wondered if this young family was concerned about possible judgement, or even hostility. They were bilingual but … would that be enough away from home? We liked them, and were glad to have met them.

Then there was Bob Binnell who hails from Michigan near Saginaw and is on a solo excursion in his pickup and camper. He was thrilled to meet us as we were putting on our jackets. He was an enthusiastic conversationalist. We were glad to have met it. He told us he loves July 4th, not because of overt patriotism but because has a forebear, discovered through Ancestry.com, that was intimately involved with and signatory to the Declaration of Independence who represented New Jersey. We learned Bob’s maternal great grandmother created the formula for Spic and Span in the 1920’s and sold it to P&G a few years later. He had so many things to share and was grateful for an audience. At last we had to move on and head home.